Thursday, 28 January 2016

After the passing of David Bowie, the visual tributes have been inevitably flowing in thick and fast from Facebook photo filters to, well, fashion, funnily enough - especially the iconic lightning bolt design and glitter ankle boots , the sartorial star of Kate Moss' 42nd birthday party. It was the latter that captured my imagination as a quick, easy refashion idea for a tired pair of platform boots, so I thought I'd share some DIY pointers on how to get the look.

Monday, 25 January 2016

A busy schedule and a spell of apathy I've been feeling under the oppressive grip of winter were the motivation behind this quick cardigan refashion. It's something about the fluffiness of the pompoms plus the fact that you simply have to sew press studs along the middle and then stitch the pompoms in place and Bob's your uncle that made this just the right project for a bleak winter's eve. All that's left to say is that when you do sew the pompoms in place, make sure you stitch through the middle of the pompom, pulling the thread as tightly as it will go.

Sunday, 17 January 2016

With chokers taking centre stage as a trend - starting last year and it appears it's meant to go on for next season - you can't go far wrong with anything from metal masterpieces to 90s retro. I plumped for an easy tutorial to tackle the latter, remembering vividly how I used to love the new age look of an adjustable choker fashioned from black cord and a single charm (ideally a mood stone or an ethnic-style bead). Take it from someone who's been there, adjustable single-bead chokers are every bit as much of an authentic '90s staple as their velvet and stretch wire contemporaries.

Monday, 11 January 2016

In one of my more indulgent entries, I thought I'd round off the party season with some bold yet adaptable gold lattice ankle boots.

You will need...

Ankle boots

Gold leather or faux leather

Stick 'n' Stay craft mount

Scalpel

Fabric scissors

Sewing machine or stapler

Staple gun

Black laces or ribbon

Difficulty

Challenging

This turned out to be one of my more challenging and time-consuming projects, taking more than five hours to make, so I'm writing it as a log of what I've been getting up to and what I learnt to do differently.

How to make them

In hindsight...

From here onwards is where I would change the method to make the project both easier and neater. What I should have done and would recommend doing would be to cut away the remaining fabric from the boots completely, fold it in half, trace the design onto the other side and cut it out. I would then have needed to cut away the fabric on the other boot, laid it flat, traced the design onto that and cut it out.

My next step would have been to lay the two cut out pieces face-down onto the gold material, facing the 'wrong' side, and trace around them with 2cm strips where I wanted the laces to go (which I'd fold into loops - as I did later on) and 1cm of excess fabric along the base, before cutting them out. After cutting both pieces out, my last steps would be to stick them to each of the matching pieces of material I cut from the boots with craft mount and attach them to the boots by stapling the material along the soles.

The trend is perfect for spring with its balance of coquettish sexiness - in the way it wraps coyly around the ankles and along the length of the feet - and playful quirkiness. Spring, with the gentle warmth it brings after the harsh winter cold and its fresh colour palette of pastel tones as the blossoms bloom and leaves grow back, sets the scene perfectly for cute and quintessentially feminine fashion. It's also that bit more comfortable for baring legs and ankles with its (hopefully slightly) warmer temperatures.

This statement lace trend is the ideal DIY project for beginners, especially if you're short on time and confidence in your technical skills. All you have to do is punch some holes and rivets, and thread some ribbon to make laces. It couldn't be more straightforward, and yet so bold a way to make a pair of shoes pack a punch.